Replica of the Nina sails into St. Augustine

ST. AUGUSTINE -- A replica of one of the ships Christopher Columbus used on his voyage to the New World is docking in St. Augustine for several days as part of its final year of touring.

Beginning Friday the Nina will be open to the public daily until Tuesday, March 2. It's scheduled to arrive today.

The replica ship The Nina will visit St. Augustine and will be open to the public Friday, February 20 through March 2.

Photo provided by the Columbus Foundation British Virgin Islands

The caravel ship took almost four years to construct because it was built entirely by hand without the use of power tools. It's been touring since being completed in December 1991 and will make a permanent home in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, later this year, said Morgan Sanger, the Nina's captain.

Sanger said the crew decided to stop in St. Augustine because they had been asked before to come for the city's annual Menendez Birthday Festival honoring St. Augustine's founder. This year's festival is Feb. 27 through Feb. 29.

HITTING HOME

For more information on the replica ship visit the Nina Web site.

"The ship is an accurate reproduction of the Columbus expedition," said Bill Adams, the city's heritage tourism director. "So we're very happy to have it here as part of our Menendez Festival. It gives people in St. Augustine an approximate idea of the kinds of vessels people came to St. Augustine in."

The Columbus Foundation formed in 1986 in the British Virgin Islands to raise money to build the three ships Columbus used in his encounter with the New World. But money and time constraints led to building just one ship. The Nina is almost 94 feet long and weighs 100 tons.

"It's one of a kind," Sanger said. "It basically shows people what their ancestors had to go through to travel and find a new life."

But touring puts a lot of wear and tear on the ship and its crew, so it's time for a home, Sanger said.

"We find that it's going to be more beneficial for the ship and more educational for the public to be in one place and take people out for two hours at a time," Sanger said.